Is Edmonton weight wise for me? (any experiences)

Hello I am a 31-year-old woman and a graduate student who takes psyc meds for autism spectrum disorder and anxiety. The only thing that has worked for me is moderate calorie diets and exercise combined with metformin even though the weight loss is slow (am down from 267 to 257/losing about a pound and a half a week and am 5'4'). I am in otherwise good physical health other than insulin resistance and I walk about 4km a day.  I do not think I will do well with weight loss surgery as any attempt at very low calorie diets brings out severe anxiety symptoms/panic attacks. My meds contribute to metabolic syndrome but going off of them is not an option. I have a referral to the clinic but so far, my increased dose of metformin (2 grams a day now) has been successful and I have lost 10lb in the last month. I want the support for a long term lifestyle change but am not intrested in extremely rigid programs or bariatric surgery so am wondering whether Edmonton weight wise is right for me or if I should simply continue with the metformin, moderate calories, and exercise. After reading more of the information on weight wise and that it tends to lean more towards surgery, I am not sure it is the right choice for me. I am thinking I will go to the intake (will be about a six month wait) and find out about it. The main thing I want is support to stay with a permanant lifestyle change to get the weight off and maintain it. I am okay with taking 3 years or so to lose the weight (would prefer that over having to have surgery to remove lose skin). Basically I am wondering if I am wasting my time going to this clinic when I am not interested or a candidate for bariatric surgery/am more in need of counselling/support for weight loss and might be interesting in trying suxenda if the metformin stops having an effect. I am wondering if at this point I would be better sticking with my family doctor and maybe a dietician. 

Hi!

I am not familiar with your clinic, but the beriatric clinic I went to in Ottawa had three different streams: WLS was one option. The second was a medically supervised liquid diet and the third was a medically supervised diet, where you eat your own food, and attend nutrition classes, meet with specialists etc. 

You should be able to see what options they have on their website.

You are doing great so far! Good luck

I am thinking I am going to go to their orientation and see what they have to offer but if my own moderate program combined with the higher dose of metformin continues to work (even if very slow), I will decline anything drastic. I have tried VLCDs before and they don't go well with my medications or my anxiety and I would even rather be obese than unable to function mentally. I chose to stay on my meds despite the metabolic symptoms because I want to have a normal life and I would prioritize my mental health even though I would like weight loss. My psychiatrist said I would not be eligible for VLCDs so weight loss surgery would probably have similar ill effects.